Thursday, June 30, 2011

End Table Makeover

I bought this cute end table a couple years ago at a thrift store for probably like $10. I had never seen anything like it and automatically fell in love! It was actually the first piece of furniture we hauled to our apartment when we first moved in. Lucky for us, I have some hoarders for parents ;) and were able to furnish it almost completely from hand-me-downs! And that is awesome, don't get me wrong but everything happened to be different shades of really dark stained wood! The couches, the tv stand, the coffee table, the desk, the end table, the bookshelf, the lamp, I mean everything. We live in a first floor apartment with only a couple windows and no overhead lighting in the living room, so it is dark enough already without all the dark furniture! There was only so much I could take, I had to come up with a solution. Soo, I've been going a little paint crazy the past couple of days trying lighten up our space/furniture. This is the first (but certainly not the last!) piece that I painted and even though it's stuck in a corner, it definitely makes a difference (in my mind atleast)!

So here's what it looked like before...

And here is what I used to paint it:

Kilz Latex Primer (water-base because I bought water-based paint).

And these awesome Paint Pod's from Ace Hardware. These things are really awesome, they come in rainbows of color, are only $4.99, and can paint up to 16 feet! The color I used for this is Mint Juliep, it even sounds pretty!

To apply the paint, I just used one of those cheap foam brushes.

So first, I taped off all the metal. I didn't have painters tape but duct tape worked just fine!

Then, with the help of a trusty assistant, I shook up my primer until fully blended and opened that baby up!

I put on my first coat of primer and let it dry for about 30 minutes.... or maybe 20? Hehe.

If needed, apply a second or third coat as well. I did three but it just depends on how dark the piece is.

And then I added two coats of my acrylic paint! I removed the tape and then let it dry overnight just to be safe.

Easy as pie! I plan on antiquing it sometime in the near future but I just don't have any sandpaper right now. I'll get to it... eventually? It's almost the weekend folks! Hang in there!